Mr. Hen. Coventry, Mr. Sprye, Sir John Denham,
Sir Lane. Lake, Sir Wm. Lewis, Sir John Norton,
Mr. Birch, Sir Rich. Onslow, Mr. Cornwallis.
f Jo. II. of Com. Vol. viii. p. 47*, 47G.
256 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1663.
44 Kesolved, &c. That the Bill, with the amendments
and proviso, agreed to, be returned to the Lords, for
their concurrence.
44 And the Lord Herbert is to carry the same up to
the Lords."
In the House of Lords,* on the 7th of May, u A mes
sage was brought from the House of Commons, by
the Lord Herbert and others : To return a Bill formerly
sent down, concerning the Lord Marquis of Worcester s
Water Engine ; wherein they have made some amend
ments and alterations, and desire their Lordships con
currence therein. 7
On the 8th of May, after other business : " Next, was
read the alterations and proviso brought up from the
House of Commons, which are to be added to the Bill
concerning the Marquis of Worcester s Water-command
ing Engine ; and being thrice read over, and considered
of-
44 The question being put, 4 Whether this Bill, with
the alterations and additions now read, shall pass ?
44 It was resolved in the affirmative."
On these three last occasions the Marquis was like
wise present.
On the 12th of May* their Lordships, in their mes
sage,! by Sir William Child and Sir Toby Woolrich,
to the House of Commons, acquainted them that they
agreed to their alterations; and, on the 3rd of June,
the royal assent was given to 44 An Act to enable the
Marquis of Worcester to receive the benefit and profit
of a Water-commanding Engine, by him invented,
&c." in these words:
44 Soil fait come il est desire"
* Jo. H. of Lords, Vol. xi. pages 517 and 519.
f Jo. II of Lords, Vol. xi. p. 522 and 533 ; and Jo. H. of Com. Vol. viii. p. 480.
1663.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 257
But the Marquis was not in attendance, as on former
occasions, to watch the proceedings.
We have thus traced the progress of this remarkable
Act through Parliament ; from the 16th of March to
the day of its receiving the royal assent on the 3rd of
June. It will have been remarked that the Marquis
was in constant attendance, and that it was his son who
was deputed by the Commons, on the 3rd of May, to
present the amended Bill to the Peers. It is impossible
to imagine what might have been the feelings of the
Marquis himself throughout the period of these pro
longed proceedings, but he unquestionably had set his
mind on this measure as the palladium of his inventive
rights and the forerunner of brighter prospects.
In a memorandum relating to various grants, among
others, occurs one to the Marquis of Worcester, thus
noticed: "March, 166|. That by Act of Parliament
his Invention of a Water-commanding Engine, granted
him for ninety-nine years, one tenth reserved to the
King. The King remitted the tenth to the Marquis
upon a surrender of a Warrant dated at Oxford, 5th
Jan. 20 Car. I. by which his then Majesty did grant
the Marquis lands to the value of 40,000, in considera
tion of a debt due to the Marquis from his Majesty. "*|
The prospect of better days had now fairly set in ; he
had at least succeeded in securing his invention to him
self and to his family after him, as a property in the
value of which he felt unbounded confidence, roundly
* See Calendar of State Papers, 1663-1664. Domestic Series, Charles II edited
by Mrs. M. A. E. Green, referring to Vol. 95, and papers between Nos. 101 and
102. The same memorandum, in another form, appears also in Domestic Corres
pondence, Feb. 1664. Vol. 93, No. 83, thus :
"Water Engine Invented. The tenths of the benefit remitted to the Marquis
of Worcester, the Inventor, in lieu of lands to the value of 40,000, granted by
warrant from his Majesty for that sum disbursed in his service."
t See Appendix F.
S
258 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1663.
estimating it at not less than 400,000. Shortly after
the passing of this Act he published his ever memorable
and extremely curious and ingenious little work, entitled
U A Century of the names and scantlings of Inventions." 15
* Mr. Thomas Baker, a talented engineer, and withal a poet, has very gracefully
epitomized the character of the Century in his poem on " The Steam Engine ; or
the Powers of Flame," published in 1857. As the work is now extremely scarce,
and not likely to be met with by the general reader, the following extract may
prove acceptable :
THE VISION OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER.
WITH hopes now high, now with despair oppress d,
As Phoebus sunk, he also sunk to rest ;
When lo ! uprose before his mental view
A HUNDRED ENGINES of devices new !
In slow procession he their forms survey d ;
In each recondite fabric were display d
Rare works of art, and such as far surpass
Ought erst beheld in iron, steel, or brass ;
While gems with gold and silver s polished sheen
Blended their hues in this artistic scene :
# * * * *
Resplendent seals were there in groups arranged,
Which by a touch their rare devices changed,
And secrets in all languages convey d
From man to man, nor once their trust betray d.
Such were the seals to Eastern Magi known,
By which of old their wond rous feats were shown.
Nine engines next in slow succession came,
Explosive from the slightest touch of flame,
Replete with missiles, used in various ways :
* * # *
A floating garden, gay, with verdant bowers,
And redolent with blooming trees and flowers,
Drew its own moisture, moved its pleasing form,
Spontaneous met the sun, and shunn d the storm ;
Such scenes of fair delight, are wont to smile
From age to age in Hainan s palmy isle 1
Nine splendid founts their varied forms display d,
Whence cooling streams, abstrusely winding, stray d ;
In one, tall jets bright Iris colours show d ;
In one, the waters ever ebb d and flow d :
*
Next there came forth a vast abstruse machine,
Where motions of ten thousand worlds were seen ;
TV sethereal vault around was wide display d,
As by bright Phoebus from his car survey d ;
1663.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 259
It is dedicated to Charles the Second, and also to both
Houses of Parliament; in addressing the latter he
expresses himself as being " by the Act of the Water-
commanding Engine (which so cheerfully you have
passed) sufficiently rewarded ;" and as the work bears
date on the title page, 1663, it must have been published
after the passing of the Act, in May, that year. This
edition, only duodecimo size, consisting of 98 pages, is
now very scarce, but it has been frequently reprinted.
This small volume was most likely only intended for
private distribution, particularly among members of
Here scenic splendour and rich art outshone
All Orreries to modern science known !
A new variety, in number vast,
Of ever-changing forms before him pass d :
Not Proteus self could with their antics cope,
Nor modern scenes of gay Kaleidoscope :
Their graceful symmetry and rainbow-hues
A rapt rous wonder o er his mind diffuse !
To vary these abstruse artistic scenes,
There pass d along a group of fresh machines ;
Many there were that in these days impart
Essential aid to various schemes of art :
One was a globe buoy d by a crystal well,
Which night or day the passing hour could tell,
With the elapsing minutes, seconds too ;
And, like the dial, to the heaven true ;
The famed Clepsydra, in its artifice,
Was but a bauble when compared with this !
Martial designs came next, in size immense,
Adapted for attack, and for defence :
* * * *
To crown these shows of wonder and delight,
A BEING rose of superhuman might :
* * * * *
At every motion from his nostrils came
A mounting vap rous breath like subtle flame !
At once it beam d on Worcester s mental eye,
That STEAM alone might this great power supply
And lo ! as twere this thought to realize,
He saw it, fuming, from vast cauldron rise ;
From whence this prodigy his spirit drew,
Achieving thus what met the wondering view !
s 2
260 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1663-4.
Parliament, and persons whose support might be soli
cited ; for it is generally believed that a company was
being organised for bringing the invention into public
use.
During this state of affairs in London an agreeable
episode was being enacted at Badminton House, Glouces
tershire, the seat of his son, Lord Herbert. In Septem
ber, 1663, Charles the Second and his Queen visited
Bath, Badminton, Cirencester, and other places, in their
progress to Oxford. Mr. Godolphin, writing from Bath
on the 1 8th of September, 1663, to his brother, says :
" We were waiting on the King to Badminton, a house
of my Lord Herbert of Eaglan, where the King dined,
and was handsomely entertained." From Oxford, he
again writes to his brother, on the 28th September, 1663,
in which he informs him that, among other matters, he
will " receive the account promised of our progress
through Bath, hither." A news-letter, dated " Oxford,
28th" [1663,] which is no doubt the one alluded to,
commences :
" On Tuesday, the 22nd instant, . [?] the King and
Queen left Bath, and at their entrance into Gloucester
shire were met by the High Sheriff; and a little after
by the Lord Herbert of Eaglan, Lord Lieutenant of
that County, with a brave appearance of the gentry of
that County, who all conducted their Majesties to the
Lord Herbert s house, at Badminton, where their
Majesties were nobly entertained at dinner."
They went thence to Cirencester, where they supped
at Lord Newburgh s, and lodged that night.
An obvious discrepancy occurs in the two accounts
of the dinner, Mr. Godolphin on the 18th writes of it
as having taken place, whereas the Oxford news-letter
names the 22nd.
From 1660, we find Lord Clarendon making a tern-
1664-5.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 261
porary residence of Worcester House in the Strand,
where, in December, the same year, Evelyn paid a visit
to the Lord Chancellor s newly married daughter. And
four years later he dined there, being afterwards taken in
their coach by the Chancellor and his Lady, to see their
palace, building at the upper end of St. James s Street. 37
The Marquis s own residence never transpires, but it
is more than probable he would reside near to, or within
easy access of Vauxhall, where we have next to trace
his very different, exceedingly arduous, and most trying
undertaking.
37 Evelyn.
262 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1664
CHAPTER XVII.
HIS OPERATIONS AT VAUXHALL PETITIONS AND DECEASE
CASPAR KALTOFF AND FAMILY M. SORBIERE COSMO,
GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY THE DOWAGER MARCHIONESS
OF WORCESTER.
IN the second Dedication to his " Century" the Marquis
of Worcester expressly alludes to u the experiments
extant, and comprised under these several heads, prac
ticable with my directions, by the unparalleled workman
both for trust and skill, Caspar Kaltoff s hand, who hath
been these five and thirty years as in a school under me
employed; and still at my disposal, in a place by my
great expenses made fit for public service, yet lately
like to be taken from me, and consequently from the
service of King and kingdom, without the least regard
of above 10,000 expended by me through my zeal to
the common good."
We have thus the fact on record, that Kaltoff was
employed by him in the execution of his mechanical
experiments from 1628 to 1663, commencing with the
period of his first marriage, when he was about twenty-
seven years of age.
In 1664, M. Samuel Sorbiere, historian to the King
of France, published in Paris a small work entitled
" Eelation d un voyage en Angleterre, &c." As he ap
pears to have interested himself in scientific matters,
as much or more than in any other single subject, no
1684.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 263
apology need be offered for quoting his entire remarks ;
because, although perhaps in one sense they appear
irrelevant, yet they acquire interest here, as proving
that he was not an incompetent authority in reference
to his most important remarks resulting from a visit to
Vauxhall. Besides, it is not a little remarkable that
Dr. Sprat, a Fellow of the Eoyal Society, as well as
its historian,* in a book of equal extent to that written
by this contemporary authority, addressed to Dr. Wren,
Professor of Astronomy, under the title of " Observations
on M. Sorbi&re s Voyage into England," 91 not only passes
over these remarks, but ridicules his short experience
of only u three months ;" and, u that when he declares
he came into England to content his curiosity, to see
all rare things and men amongst us, yet he scarce
mentions the Duke of York !" This last omission,
however serious a one it might have been in 1665, the
lively Frenchman has amply compensated for, by the
substitution of matter that has a far greater interest for
posterity. Sorbiere says :
"M. de Monconis showed me his journal, which was
so curious, and where he had collected so exactly all
that was passing among the learned men of the Eoyal
Society of London, that his industry has made me neg
ligent in collecting afresh for myself the things found
there. We shall see some day all that he has said in
it, for if he believes me he will lay before the public
that, as well as his other journal of Egypt and Jerusa
lem. He speaks of several new inventions, which
would be very difficult to believe, if not tried. One is a
self-registering instrument to mark atmospheric changes
History of the Royal Society of London. By Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Ro
chester, 4 to. 1667.
91 Sprat.
2G4 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS f 1664.
which happen every 24 hours, effected by a pendulum
clock. A thermometer ; a compass ; a self-registering
weather-cock a means by which Mr. Willis causes a
piece of iron by exposure to moderate heat to calcine,
without the help of a corrosive, and dissolve on being
plunged into water; of a deaf and dumb person at
Oxford, who Mr. Willis has taught to read by showing
the different inflexions of the voice necessary for articu
lation ; a new manner of exploding ships in the water ;
a way by which several short beams can be made into
a plain flat surface, by placing them one on the top of
another without being supported, nailed, or grooved
one into another ; of a furnace or stove by Dr. Kuffler,
in the style of Drebble s, which I saw some time ago
at La Hague, and which was so successful at Arnheim,
with self-acting registers ; another kind of furnace which,
for five sous worth of wood, cooked a large quantity of
bread ; a way of distilling salt-water to make it drink
able, where for five sous you can distil water enough
for 100 persons to drink*, an instrument to design and
draw every description of object by a person who has
never learnt."
He adds : " One of the most curious things I wished
to see was a Hydraulic Machine, which the Marquis of
Worcester has invented, and of which he has made an
experiment. I went expressly to Vauxhall, the other
side of the Thames, a little below Lambeth, which is
the Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in sight of
j London. This machine will raise to the height of 40
feet by the strength of one man, and in the space of one
minute of time, four large buckets of water, and that
by a pipe or tube of 8 inches. But what will be the
most powerful help to the wants of the public is the
work which is performed by another ingeniously con
structed machine, which can be seen raised on a wooden
1664.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 265
tower on the top of Somerset House, which supplies
that part of the town with water, but with some difficulty,
and a smaller quantity than could be desired. It is
somewhat like our Samaritane water-work on the Pont-
Neuf ; and on the raising pump they have added an
impulsion which increases the force ; but for what we
obtain by the power of the Seine, they employ one or
two horses which incessantly turn the machine, as the
tide of their river changes its course twice a day, and
the spring or wheels which are used for the ebbing tide
would not do for the flow."
M. Sorbiere s Dedication of his narrative to the King
is dated 12th December, 1663, so that it is possible the
Century had been published previous to the visit he has
just described, and it is worthy of notice that he ex
presses no difficulty in obtaining access to the exhibition
of the machine, which gives colour to the belief that it
was on public view, for the purpose of establishing a
company to carry out the invention on a large scale.
Vauxhall, as it is now called, was variously designated
Fox-hall, Faukeshall, Fulke s Hall, corruptions of a
derivation from Fulke de Breaut6, who built a mansion
in the manor of South Lambeth, long known as Fulke s-
hall. 94 In 1652, the Parliament having determined that
Vauxhall-house, which had been reserved by a former
order, should be sold, it was purchased by John
Trenchard of Westminster. After the Eestoration it
was leased to Henry Lord Moore, afterwards Earl of
Drogheda, together with the demesne lands of Kenning-
ton for 31 years; with a proviso, that if his Majesty
should think fit to make use of the house, or any part
thereof, it should be surrendered upon a proper allow
ance being made for the same. The King, availing
94 Tallis.
206 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1664.
himself of this proviso the year after the lease was
granted, settled Casper Kaltoff, a Dutchman, at Vaux-
hall, who was employed in making guns and other
warlike implements for government service. 65
By an Act of the House of Commons, 1 7th of July,
1649, for the sale of the houses, &c. of the late King,
Queen, and Prince, it is provided that " it should not
extend to the house called Vaux Hall, nor to the
grounds, houses, buildings, models, utensils, or other
necessaries for practical inventions therein contained; but
that they should remain for the use of the Common
wealth, to be employed and disposed of by the Parlia
ment, as they shall think fit." 3 Now the mention of
inventions and models, taken in connection with recent
facts, would lead to the inference that the Marquis of
Worcester might have been much earlier associated
with practical experiments at Vauxhall than at first
appears. On this point he was always reserved, even
in his Century only cautiously alluding to Kaltoff as
being "in a place by my great expenses made fit for
public service, yet lately like to be taken from me."
Among the manuscripts of the Royal Society is a
letter from Samuel Hartlib, the author of works relat
ing to Husbandry, addressed to the Honourable Robert
Boyle, 14 dated Amsterdam, May the 18th, 1649, in which
he remarks : 104 " Fauxhall is to be set apart for public
uses, by which is meant making it a place of resort for
artists, mechanics, &c. and a depot for models and phi
losophical apparatus." It is further proposed, that
" experiments and trials of profitable inventions should
be carried on," which, says Hartlib, "will be of great
use to the Commonwealth." Adding that the late
King (Charles I.) " designed Fauxhall for such an use."
65 Lysons. 3 Allen. 14 Boyle. 10 < Weld.
1664.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, 267
After a lapse of five years, lie writes another letter to
Boyle, 14 on the same subject, furnishing us, incidentally,
with the following curious and important details:
" The Earl of Worcester is buying Fauxhall from Mr.
Trenchard, to bestow the use of that house upon Gaspar
Calehof [Kaltoff] and son [son-in-law], as long as
they shall live, for he intends to make it a College of
Artisans. Yesterday (he adds) I was invited by the
famous Thomas Bushel to Lambeth Marsh, to see part
of that foundation." 104
Hartlib was a generous-hearted man, who projected
many schemes for public benefit. Evelyn styles him
an "ingenious person, honest and learned;" that he
deserved the latter distinction we may infer from the
fact of Milton having addressed to him his treatise u Of
Education."
These particulars serve to show a very early con
nection on the part of the Marquis of Worcester with
Vauxhall, making it still more probable that he had
established a laboratory or workshop there, years
before the Civil War broke out ; that from its extent it
was proposed to retain it for the benefit of the State ;
and that on his own release from the Tower he sought
to regain possession of the premises, but possibly, for
politic reasons, in the name of his faithful workman
Caspar Kaltoff.
During 35 years there would be a large accumula
tion of models for one hundred inventions and several
hundreds of experiments, as well as a considerable
quantity of tools and machinery. He would certainly
choose some place as near as possible to the great mart,
where alone he could obtain, within any reasonable
time, the numerous articles and materials constantly
11 Boyle. 10 Weld.
268 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1664.
required in experimental employments; and desiring
to be near London, when we find him at Vauxhall
in 1663, who can doubt, that he rather continued,
than selected for the first time, the locality where
we now find the indefatigable noble inventor and
his veteran "unparalleled workman," engaged on
the first public example of the u Water-commanding
Engine."
Pressing as were his personal necessities, he continued
untiring in maintaining the practical working of the
new engine set up under protection of the Act he had
obtained in 1663. But, like all novel enterprises,
people were sceptical as to its real value. He appears
to have been wholly neglected by the first scientific
authorities of his day, who yet could not be otherwise
than aware of the remarkable performance of the
engine erected by him at Vauxhall. We find him
making sufficient allusion to its nature and properties in
his Century, published in 1663; then, in 1664, Sorbiere
published his account of his visit to England, further
describing what he had seen of the water-works at
Vauxhall; while Dr. Sprat, by the severe strictures
he wrote on the Koyal-Hydrographer s book, in the
letter he published, addressed to Dr. Wren, at Oxford,
must have spread the intelligence, and served to call
attention to Sorbi&re s statement. What benefit the
Marquis of Worcester really received through the
intervention of friends or the public, beyond temporary
loans of money, does not transpire, and, judging from
the following documents, his financial position was
reduced to the lowest state possible. The original
papers are fortunately preserved at Badminton House.
The first is endorsed, " Copy of the letter which was
sent by my Lord Duke of Albemarle to the Lord
Arlington."
1664.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 269
44 MY LORD,
44 The sad condition of my Lord Marquis of
Worcester, after his so great merits from the Crown of
England, as few can imagine, but now discovered by
sure hands unto me, inclined me to write such a letter
to his Majesty, as I find by him that your Lordship
hath been acquainted with 5 but reflecting, that if it
should be presented to the King, it might seem against
some resolutions of mine, not to importune his Majesty
for things of the like nature, as are therein mentioned,
I choose rather to desire my Lord Marquis to suspend
my endeavours to serve him. therein with his Majesty,
till I have the honour personally to attend him ; yet, in
the meantime, if your Lordship find an occasion to
incline the King thereunto, I shall not fail to second
your Lordship therein, or any other who may be instru
mental to get from his Majesty a due consideration of
my Lord Marquis, his just pretensions to as much favour
and recompense as any subject I know ; and I make no
question but when your Lordship hath thoroughly
known him, you will be of the same opinion, and if
that be any value with you, I do profess that in oblig
ing my Lord Marquis of Worcester, you will also
exceedingly oblige,
44 Your Lordship s, &c."
The next is a Draft Petition in the Marquis s hand
writing, written with more care than usually occurs in
his letters :
44 DREAD SOVEREIGN,
44 Although I know very well that were the wise
and politic Cornelius Tacitus living, he durst not whis
per unto your Majesty as he did to other Princes,
prone to hear him, when he said : 4 Eo usque grata
270 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1664-5.
sunt beneficia quam diu solvi posse videantur ubi semel
antevenere pro gratia odium vedditur. I am, notwith
standing, very loth to trouble your sacred Majesty in
order to myself, not but I am sufficiently necessitated
to importune you, even as much as any poor subject